Arrest public records

How did El Paso County Deputy Micah Flick die?Law enforcement has answered the question with the bare minimum – that Flick was fatally wounded in a shootout while the Beat Auto Theft Through Law Enforcement taskforce was attempting to arrest suspected car thief Manuel Zetina on Feb. 5. But details such as who shot Flick, the number of gunshot wounds he sustained, and how three other law enforcement officers were wounded in the same scuffle remain unanswered.And they could forever remain unanswered if El Paso County Coroner Robert Bux has his way.Bux is petitioning the 4th Judicial District Court to block the release of Flick’s and Zetina’s autopsy reports, which routinely includes information about the number of injuries sustained, bullet trajectory, toxicology, among others. The Gazette and the Colorado Springs Independent had requested the reports under the Colorado Open records Act, and is partnering to hired legal counsel to fight for transparency.Bux also has … [Read more...] about El Paso County Coroner seeking to block release of Deputy Micah Flick’s autopsy in pattern of disregard for public records

As the number of state troopers accused of abusing overtime programs to pad their paychecks has increased -- from 21, to 30, to 42 -- two major questions remain unanswered. How much money was at stake? And what steps did the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which funded Massachusetts State Police Troop E's patrols on the Massachusetts Turnpike, take to ensure its money was being spent responsibly? While an ongoing probe by State Attorney General Maura Healey's Office has prompted state police to decline comment on the amount of money stolen, records of program funding, audits and MassDOT financial reports could shed light on those questions. But for months, both MassDOT and state police have failed to explain how much was spent on Accident Injury Reduction Effort (AIRE) patrols, a now-cancelled program to fund overtime traffic enforcement on the Mass. Pike that dozens of troopers allegedly abused. And for weeks MassDOT has flouted state public … [Read more...] about Corruption-riddled state police overtime program remains obscured as MassDOT continues to flout public records law

Devan Patel [email protected] Published 9:02 p.m. UTC Jun 1, 2018 Records released as part of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office investigation into former Marco Island City Manager Lee Niblock have revealed one of the suspected sources of a leak at the city’s police department. Five days after notifying City Council on Feb. 8 about an investigation into an employee, an email from Police Chief Al Schettino to the city’s legal counsel showed the department was preparing to fire records clerk Heather Comparini, suspected of disseminating information without authorization. In termination notes attached to the email, Schettino detailed a conversation he had with City Attorney Alan Gabriel after Gabriel inquired about whether the department sent out an email about Niblock resigning. “Alan went on to say that the correspondence he was referencing was a text message he was made aware of from a councilor originating from Heather Comparini stating … [Read more...] about Public records show police records clerk accused of leaking Niblock investigation

Tonyaa Weathersbee USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee Published 2:01 p.m. UTC May 23, 2018 This is one in a series of guest columns for The 9:01. SOMEBODY’S GETTING IT TWISTED It looks like Tennessee’s public servants need a refresher on who the public is. Hint: It’s not just their supervisors. It’s anyone who wants to examine minutes from a city council or county commission meeting, or records from committee meetings, or any record of any public entity that conducts business on behalf of the people. Apparently, the public servants who keep this information are acting as guards of it, when they should be acting as guides. An audit by the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government recently found that despite a state law that required every government entity to establish a written public records policy by July 2017, many of those entities hadn’t done that. The coalition sought information on public records policy from 306 city, county and state … [Read more...] about The 9:01: Public records shouldn’t be protected from the public, Haslam’s harrowing choice, Crosstown’s win